In the mid-1970s, Dolby Laboratories introduced a calibration recommendation for monitor levels in movie soundtracks (“Dolby” is a trademark of Dolby Laboratories, Inc.). A pink noise reference signal was used in the record chain to adjust the audio monitor level to 85 dBc. All theatres equipped for playback of the new stereo optical soundtracks were set up such that an equivalent pink noise signal in a soundtrack channel generated the same 85 dBc with the playback volume control (fader) set to the calibrated setting. This meant that theatres playing films at the calibrated volume control setting (a setting of “7” in a range of “0” to “10” on most cinema processors) reproduced the same loudness level selected by the film director and audio engineers in the dubbing theatre (referred to herein as “the mixer”).
This system worked quite well for many years. Dolby Stereo (A-type encoded) films had limited headroom and the resulting constrained dynamic range yielded few audience complaints. Most theatres played films at the calibrated level. Soundtrack format technology has been significantly enhanced since Dolby Stereo. Dolby SR extended the headroom by 3 dB at midrange frequencies, and more at low and high frequencies. In recent years, the new digital formats have further increased the headroom. FIG. 1 shows maximum sound pressure level of one reproduced soundtrack channel versus frequency for four photographic soundtrack formats, Academy mono, Dolby A-type, Dolby SR and Dolby Digital. The curves are normalized with respect to their reference levels. Thus, they show the maximum sound pressure level that one channel of each different optical soundtrack system is capable of when playing a motion picture at the calibrated volume control setting in a properly set up theater. The maximum sound pressure level in a theater is also a function of the number of soundtrack channels. For example, five channels can deliver 2.5 times as much power as two channels, resulting in an increase of 4 dB in sound pressure level. Thus, in the case of five or seven channel digital soundtrack reproduction, for example, the increase in peak sound pressure level is even greater than that shown in FIG. 1.
Because the 85 dBc calibration technique has been maintained throughout evolving format changes, additional headroom is available on the newer soundtracks. However, feature films do have a consistent, subjective mix reference, independent of increased headroom, for dialogue record level, known as “associative loudness.” When the dubbing mixer sees an actor on the screen, and there is no conflict between the dialogue and music or effects, the dialogue level in a moderate close-up is set to be plausible for the visual impression. Within reasonable limits, this generally holds true to within 2 or 3 dB. This natural dialogue level does not hold true for narration, as there is no corresponding visual reference. Music and effects have no direct visual associative loudness. Most people are not familiar with the actual sound pressure levels of a Concorde takeoff or a 50 mm howitzer. The music score level is equally uncalibrated.
As the headroom capability of the recording medium has been extended, it has certainly been used: the “non-associative” loudness of effects and music has risen to fill the available headroom space. Using dialogue as a reference, loud sounds like explosions are often 20 dB or more louder (explosions reach full scale peak level of 25 dB above dialogue level), and some quiet sounds, which are intended to be heard by all listeners, such as leaves rustling, may be 50 dB quieter.
In response to audience complaints that movies are too loud, many theatres are playing films substantially below the calibrated level. A volume control setting (fader level) of “6” or “5½,” as opposed to the calibrated level (volume control standard setting) of “7,” is not uncommon, representing a loudness reduction of approximately 4 or 6 dB. Some cinemas have their volume control permanently turned down to such settings because projectionists operating multiplexes with many screens showing different movies simultaneously don't have the time or cannot be bothered to set the controls differently for different movies. If the volume control is turned down to avoid complaints of excessive loudness, the dialogue is quieter than the mixer intended, and audiences may complain instead that some dialogue is not intelligible in the presence of other sounds in the film and/or general background noise of the theater (popcorn eating, air-conditioning, people talking, etc.). Theatre playback levels are often set by complaints generated by the loudest (and earliest) element of the show. If the playback level is set in response to the loudest trailer (preview), which is often louder than the feature film, the feature often plays at the same reduced level. The result is that the dialogue level of the feature is lowered by the same level deemed necessary to attenuate the trailer. A feature film played with a loudness 6 dB below the calibrated level may have serious dialogue intelligibility problems and very quiet sounds may become inaudible.
In addition, it is possible that the increased use of headroom from Dolby A-type to Dolby SR and digital releases has not been matched by a corresponding increase in power amplifier and loudspeaker capability. The resultant distortion from overloaded equipment may well exacerbate the loudness problems of recent soundtracks, causing increased incidence of complaints.
In early cinema sound equipment employing calibration, the volume control was a mechanical potentiometer, often with a click-stop or detent at the standard setting. More recent (digital) equipment uses a shaft encoder or a pair of up-down buttons (with a numeric display for the setting), delivering a control signal that operates on multipliers (either digital or voltage-controlled amplifiers) to affect the gain applied to all channels of the reproduced soundtracks. In typical cinema sound equipment, the volume control varies the gain gradually and relatively uniformly over a range of settings from about “4” to “10,” with the gain falling more rapidly at setting below about “4,” allowing a fade to inaudibility.